I have spent this summer in Europe. My first stop was Paris, France. Gwen, Tsz Ting, Cassandra and I decided to embark on our Europe trip together, before we settle down for a month of Overseas Immersion Programme at Newcastle, England. Even though the flight journey was excruciating long (~13 hours), I was still very excited about the whole trip towards Paris.
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| Above the clouds |
When we reached Charles de Gauille airport, we had to buy tickets to get ourselves from the airport to central Paris.
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| A typical SNCF/ RATP ticket to travel around in Paris |
We managed to book an apartment, called
Pix 1 Flat, located in Arrondisement 19 of Paris a few months before the trip. The closest metro station to our apartment was Laumiere. We were quite exhausted when we reached Laumiere, because most of the metro stations in Europe do not have escalators and we had to carry our 12- 15kg of luggages up the stairs. So dear Singaporeans, we are really fortunate bunch of people to have escalators everywhere in our city!
We were suppose to meet Georges, the in-charge of the apartment, outside of the apartment building at 0800hr. However, there was a bit of miscommunication between us, because we mistook an apartment building for the one that we booked. So we stood outside of one apartment building in the cold, thinking where was Georges, and we had to call him using Gwen's phone.
When we finally reached the apartment, we were very relieved. The apartment is really nice! One of the nicest, luxurious accommodation that I have stayed throughout my whole Europe trip. There was a small elevator leading up to the apartment. The apartment is fully equiped with iPhone docks (suitable for 3G/4Gs), hi-five sound system, spacious kitchen, mezzanine, sofa bed, two LCD TV, bathroom with warm water, etc.
After signing the apartment contract with Georges, we started to unpack our stuffs, shower and getting ready to head out and explore Paris.
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| The awesome kitchen in the apartment |
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| View from the apartment's window, at 1000hr. We were facing Parc du Buttes Chaumont, one of the largest nature park in Paris. |
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| Laumiere, Arrondisement 19, Paris. |
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| With Cassandra (right), heading out. Photo courtesy of Cassandra. |
When we were walking along the streets of our neighbourhood, we passed by many pastry shops. As Paris is well known for their bakeries and sweet treats, we decided to stop at a random bakery shop, buy some pastries to fill up our stomachs.
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| A bakery shop selling different pastries, tarts and sandwiches. |
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| Breakfast of the day |
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| Gwen enjoying her food in style. |
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| Epicerie (A French word for shops that sell groceries) |
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| Fresh strawberries |
Our first tourist destination in Paris was to visit the Pantheon, located in the Latin quarter. The Pantheon is a greek word for "Every God". It was formally a church, now it is a national monument of Paris, where the remains of influential people in France, such as Voltaire and Victor Hugo, are buried here.
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| Pantheon, Paris, France |
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| It's amazing how much effort the artists used to draw these murals in the Pantheon of Paris. |
After we visited the Pantheon, we strolled down to Jardin du Luxembourg. It is one of the largest park in Paris, and it houses the Luxembourg Palace.
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| In the view of the Pantheon, this statue is portraying a man, trying to read his script for a play. |
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| Photo courtesy of Gwen. |
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| Luxembourg Palace |
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| Photo courtesy of Gwen. |
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| In front of Luxembourg Palace, at the garden. Photo courtesy of Gwen. |
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| The Medici Fountain; this sculpture design is heavily influenced by Italian. |
-End of Part I-
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